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I am using the latest Ubuntu 11.04. My computer is Lenovo Thinkcenter M series. I am now using dual monitors. I am wondering whether I could use three monitors on my system?

Thanks Anand

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  • I don't think I can, because there seems no other slot for the third monitor. :-(
    – Anand
    Aug 7, 2011 at 11:52

4 Answers 4

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I was trying to do the same thing, and went down the external USB video card route and never got it to work. I've ended up using a cheap Nettop machine and the keyboard/mouse sharing solution Synergy. I have the feel of one machine, but it's distributed (I use the nettop as an auxilary/utility machine for browsing, printing labels, etc.... The Acer Revo AR1600 can be had for about $100US on ebay and is a nice little machine that takes up very little space.

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  • Thanks Kendor, the solution by Synergy sounds feasible for me. I have both desktop and laptop. I will try if I could put them together. :-)
    – Anand
    Aug 8, 2011 at 11:27
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You would need to have an additional graphics card.

Give us details as to what graphics cards (+model) you already have in case it requires special instructions.

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  • Thanks user4124. I don't think I will buy another graphic card for the third monitor. Two are quite okay for me. :-)
    – Anand
    Aug 7, 2011 at 12:54
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You could buy something like Matrox's TripleHead2Go.

It's essentially a box that you plug all your screens into and then plug that into your graphics card. The box appears as one monitor so negates having to fight with drivers and whatnot.

The downside is Ubuntu doesn't know that it's a dual/tri-screen setup so won't know how to maximise things properly (they'll split over the two screens) and dialogue placement might be over the two screens.

The other downside is it's expensive. Really expensive... As expensive as a graphics card that can support 3+ monitors on a desktop.

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  • Thanks Oli, I find that it is indeed too expensive for me. :-) Anyway, it is nice to know this solution. Thanks a lot! :-)
    – Anand
    Aug 8, 2011 at 11:21
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You may be able to use a monitor connected to a USB docking station in addition to your existing monitor. It appears some have Linux drivers.

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  • Thanks BillThor. Do you mean that there is a special monitor that uses USB to connect to the computer? Or I should buy some adapter (or USB video card) for that. :-)
    – Anand
    Aug 8, 2011 at 11:28
  • Some USB docking stations appear to include a graphics card. You plug a monitor into the VGA port of the docking station and the docking station into a USB 2.0 port. I haven't tried one but you may want to investigate. Plugable USB 2.0 Universal Docking Station is an example.
    – BillThor
    Aug 9, 2011 at 2:35
  • Thanks BillThor, it looks nice even though a little expensive. :-)
    – Anand
    Aug 9, 2011 at 12:21
  • Price is one of the reasons I haven't got one. If you do try it try to find a local supplier who will refund your purchase if it doesn't work for you.
    – BillThor
    Aug 10, 2011 at 0:20

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